Man sentenced to year for assault

A southern Alberta man caught on video attacking another man last October has been sent to jail for a year.

Adam Filipcic, who was set to stand trial Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court, pleaded guilty to single counts of assault with a weapon, break and enter and driving while prohibited.

Court was told Filipcic, 28, who was with another accused, Ryan Quiroga, approached a man who had been sitting on a motorcycle for some time near a northside business Oct. 25, and began punching and kneeing him. Filipcic also sprayed him three times in the face with bear spray, and when the victim fell off his motorcycle Filipcic sprayed him again.

“This was a two-on-one assault,” Crown prosecutor Erin Olsen told court, which, she added, makes the offence particularly aggravating.

A witness told police he saw one of the men grab a backpack as they ran back to their vehicle.

Only minutes later, the two men broke into a garage and stole tools and cigarettes. A witness was able to describe the vehicle in which the two men fled, and police tracked them down to a residence where they were caught with the goods.

The Crown noted that although Filipcic was a prohibited driver at the time, he was driving the vehicle used during the offences. The vehicle, however, belonged to someone else who had allowed Filipcic to borrow it.

Defence told court Filipcic does not have an extensive criminal record and has only been in trouble for the past 1218 months, much of which is the result of his addictions. Filipcic wants to receive treatment for addictions, his lawyer added.

In addition to his jail sentence, Filipcic is prohibited from possessing certain firearms and weapons for 10 years and others for life. He must also submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Databank. The co-accused, Quiroga, was also charged in relation to the incidents, but he died of a suspected drug overdose earlier this year while he was in jail.

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